Hot bats: North Stars sweep Knights

It was a tale of two different games, but the ending was very much the same for the Havre American Legion baseball team.

On Tuesday afternoon at Legion Field, the North Stars opened a critical six-game home stand with a sweep of the Medicine Hat Knights in a Northern District doubleheader. The North Stars beat the Knights 24-7 in game one and 10-7 in the nightcap on a day when winds gusted to 57 MPH in Havre.

"The wind was tough on both teams," Havre head coach Steve Fanning said.

"But it certainly caused them (Knights) some problems. They made some mistakes in the field and we capitalized on those mistakes, especially in that first game. I thought we did a good job of keeping our foot on the gas today." Havre certainly did that in the first game, which turned into a romp over the Knights.

While Roman Surber was in command for the North Stars on the mound, scattering seven hits over five innings in the complete-game win, the North Star bats shined through. The North Stars belted out 17 hits, scored 24 runs and six extrabase hits.

"We hit the ball really well today," Fanning said. "In that first game, everybody hit the ball really hard. We got the pitches we were looking for and we hit the ball hard. We had a lot of consistency at the plate, and once we got on them (Knights), we kept our foot on the gas." And Havre got on the Knights right from the opening pitch, scoring seven first-inning runs. The first five Havre hitters reached base safely, with Justin Jensen doubling, and Brandon Smith and CJ Evans each earning RBI hits. Kolby Sukut did the same, and Surber started what turned out to be a monster day at the plate, finishing the inning with a single.

But the big blow didn't come until the third inning.

Leading 8-3, the North Stars sent 15 batters to the plate in the bottom of the third, scored 10 runs and chased Medicine Hat starter Andy Scott from the game. In the one inning, Kemmer had a double and a single, and Sukut and Surber delivered RBI hits yet again. By the time the dust settled, the North Stars led 18-3 and never looked back. They scored six more runs in the fourth, and the Knights got a small rally started in the fifth, but Havre's lead was too big and Surber wound up putting the Knights away on the mound.

Along with picking up the win on the mound, Surber was 4-for-4 at the plate with a double. Kemmer (3-4), Miller (3-4) and Evans (4-5) all came up big for the North Stars as well.

Despite the runaway win in the first game, the North Stars weren't off the hook, and the Knights didn't go away quietly.

Havre had to work hard for the sweep, and while the North Stars prevailed 10-7 in the second outing, it didn't come easy.

The Knights scored four runs in the first inning, as Evans struggled some on the mound. He hit back-to-back hitters and Havre made a critical error in the field as the Knights jumped out to a 4-0 lead.

The North Stars responded with a pair of runs in their half of the first inning as Kemmer reached on an error and Jensen singled as did Miller and Evans.

But Smith delivered a two-RBI single to pull Havre to within two runs.

Despite Medicine Hat playing much better in the second game, the North Stars stayed the course, and rallied when they needed to.

Down 5-2 heading into the fifth inning, the North Stars stormed back behind doubles by Kemmer and Mark Vukasin, and RBIs from Sukut, Adam Briese and Surber. Briese came up with a big, two-out triple to keep the rally alive, and Surber collected one of his three hits in game two. In all, he went 3-for-4 in the second game and was red-hot at the plate the entire day.

The fifth-inning rally gave Havre a 6-5 lead, but the Knights came back to tie the game 6-6 in the sixth, despite excellent relief pitching by Kemmer. But Havre's bats weren't done.

In the bottom of the sixth, the North Stars scored four more times as Miller and Smith started the inning with big hits, and Sukut, Briese and Surber finished the rally with RBI-hits.

"Proud of the way we hung in there," Fanning said. "We hit the ball really well again. We got a big boost from the bottom of our lineup today. Kolby, Adam and Roman all came up big at the plate. They really stepped up today and that turned out to be the difference in second game.

And those are the kinds of things we need as we get to tournament time." Jensen and Surber both went 3-for-4 for the North Stars, while Miller, Smith, Evans and Briese all added two hits apiece on a day when the North Stars totaled 31 hits in 11 total innings. Kemmer picked up the win on the mound for Havre, which has now won six straight games.

"This is a big week for us, one in which we really have to play well," Fanning said. "And I was really pleased with how we started this week off. Not only because we want to win these district games, but just to keep this momentum we have going.

We want to be playing good baseball going into the district tournament and we are doing that right now." The sweep of the Knights pushed Havre's league record to 11-7. The North Stars, who host the Vauxhall Spurs today at 3, are 25-18 overall.